


Flower of Io

by GoodtimeGambler



Category: Destiny (Video Games)
Genre: Minor Violence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-17
Updated: 2019-11-29
Packaged: 2021-02-07 21:33:26
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,635
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21464872
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GoodtimeGambler/pseuds/GoodtimeGambler
Summary: How Asher Mir was forced to regain his organic arm, and the life after.
Relationships: Guardian/Asher Mir
Comments: 2
Kudos: 21





	1. Lost and Found

As a guardian you are Godslayer, King Killer, and the Downfall of Houses... but to Mir, you are but one more guardian who will be his assistant. It was refreshing. You fall for him, but he doesn't even notice. He is dying, and has no time for such things. You are rage incarnate, unending and immortal. To dabble with him would only mean heartbreak, so you do not. You try so hard to stay away.

But. When you hear of Osiris' plight you see an opportunity. You can save him, save the Sol system, but this time you want something in return. Before you leave for Mercury, before you leave to save Osiris, you go to Io where Mir stays. You walk to him and tear him away from his work. He isn't happy. Grumblings of "this had better be important" "what could be of greater need for my attention than my research" and you grab his hands. He startles at the touch, but you do not let go, not even of the hand that is Vex constructed. This is not the first time you've held his hands, although this is different than before.

"Mir, I'm leaving. I'm going to Mercury and into the Infinate Forest. I may never see you again, so I must tell you something."

His eyebrows raise and knit together, this is an insistant part of you that you have never displayed before, and the mention of Mercury and the Forest keeps him silent. He knows the dangers that lie there are far greater than on Io. Far greater than even Brackion, who took his arm.

"Mir I love you, and I will find a way to cure you if I must drag both you and Osiris kicking and screaming into the Light to find that way."

And he opens his mouth to reply.

But your Ghost, Sagira, and yourself have planned this. You're already gone, transmatted into a ship for the trip to Mercury. Mir sends you messages that you don't read. You care not if they are rejection, or acceptance, or anger, you will not look.

_You will not look._

You rip your way through Mercury the same way you tore Oryx apart from the inside out. Cut down Cabal and Vex forces as you cut down Ghaul with your light. Descimate the onslaught of forces as you did to many an Eliksni house. You are rage incarnate, unending and immortal, and your enemies know that there is no escape as you murder your way to the Infinate Forest gate. When Ikora opens it for you, you pause. Your Ghost plays a voice message for you, one of the first Mir ever sent to you. His first admittance that he valued you, your help, your presence. If you are to die then Mir's voice will be the last you hear.

You wouldn't have it another way.

You step into the Forest.

It is chaos. Pure Vex chaos inside. Constructs shift constantly in the ever changing paths of the Forest. If not for Sagira, you would not have made it far, but she is familer with this Forest in the same way you are familer with Io. You have both spent a long time wandering after Vex obsessed Warlocks, and you understand each other because of it.

Together you kill and kill, compete objective after objective, and search for Osiris. There is no telling how much time has passed outside the Infinate Forest while you are inside, but you care little. As long as Mir is alive when you leave nothing else matters. Not even the precious Last City you have saved so many times.

Sagira understands. She will convince Osiris to help you, she promises this. If you would brave certain death for one Warlock, he must be special, and she understands more than anyone what its like to watch a loved one decay. She once observed it in Osiris. If you would save an entire system for one Warlock, he must be one of a kind.

But when you save Osiris. Save the system... He does not want to help you. You may have helped him, but what is one man in the face of all the Vex secrets he could unlock?

You take his collar in a vice grip. _"I WILL DRAG YOU KICKING AND SCREAMING TO IO IF I MUST."_

He tries to struggle_._

He is no match for you, and Sagira, for once, will not help him. She agreed with you in a deal, an understanding. She is a ghost of her word.

_But you go to Io_ alone.

When you arrive, you ambush Mir. You have no time for his arguements or struggles, and put him to sleep with a careful knock to the back of his head, just for a while. 

It's wrong to do, you know it is. It feels bad. His ghost lets you. It knows your intentions.

Osiris will help you cure Asher Mir. It is no small feat, but he is a master of Vex technology. He can do it. But, you must take Mir into the forest.

You fly back to Mercury, and hold Mir close your lap for the flight, feeling his warmth and his breathing, his heartbeat. You embrace him with gentle light, and feel his stir at the outreach. You pour your feelings into the light and feel them wash over the frantic shifting of Mir's energy. You hold him closer, knowing that after he wakes he will never want to see you again.

But you'll save his life. Just like you used violence to preserve every other life you've saved. Its always violence.

It hurts to think about.

But if this is what it takes to keep Mir alive, you will live with his hatred and cherish the recorded messages you have for the rest of your immortal days.

In the Forest Osiris can do almost anything, even cure Mir. It is fast and you hold him in your lap. Watching as his face twists in unconsious pain. You kiss his temple, and wish for the best. Osiris is still unhappy, but he seems to begrudgingly understand now. Perhaps Sagira spoke to him during your transit to and from Io.

When Mir is whole again, Osiris tells you to cut him. You glare, but understand why. They must know if he still has Radiolaria coursing through his veins. You knick the back of one of Mir's hands with the sharpest blade you have, and watch red bead up. No more radiolaria.

Mir is no longer dying. Osiris then turns to Mir's ghost, their red eye unblinking, staring. You do not watch as the ghost makes more tittering noises than you have ever heard them speak in your whole time of knowing Mir. Your Warlock has all your attention. You take a roll of bandage from one of your belt pouches, and wrap his now injured hand with great care. He is still fast asleep. He will be for some time yet. You will watch over him until he stirs, or have someone else do it. By then you will both be back on Io, and you will flee before he knows you are there.

Eventually Mir's ghost is as free as they will ever be from the Vex corruption, and their eye is no longer red. They are mostly normal, and you give them one of your favorite shells so they can shed the Vex tainted one. Their voice has no gender, and they say: "He loves you."

You tell them, "He will change his mind when he wakes."

They are quiet.

You pull Mir close again for another flight to Io, humming music as though he could hear you.

You leave Mir on Io, at his research station, lying on the ground over the spare bedding you carry for long missions. You can always get more, and perhaps he will rest more now that he is not in danger of death from the Vex construct. One of your Titan aquaintances kneels nearby, gun in their hands. No harm will befall Mir while they are present.

You leave for the Last City.

And you know your Flower of Io will live forever, just like you.

While you and your Ghost are on your way back to the city, you record a message. It is an old song, one you remember from your first life, before you were risen as a guardian. It is soft and holds many feelings in it. You send it to Mir's ghost for them to listen to.

When you are back on Earth you return to the vanguard, and Ghost turns in the incedent report and footage from the Forest as evidence of your deeds. After this exchance, you look to Cayde.

"I need a friend right now."

Zavala will not begrudge you this. You are his Godslayer, King Killer, his Scourge of Houses. He would not begrudge you something so simple as friendship, no matter if Cayde-6 has duties to attend to or not.

You two go into the wilds around the city. Not even a thousand miles away from the walls. You speak of what you have done, and he lets you lean on him for comfort, brushing away tears with warm metal fingers. He knows why you did it, he understands.

To so many you are a living legend. To Mir you were a simple guardian, another helpful set of hands. You fell in love when you should not have.

Now you have ruined it. Ruined that love. Plucked a petal from the Flower of Io. You have changed him without his consent because you are, for once, selfish, and Cayde understands. You both stay in the wilds until dusk.

The stubborn blue flowers in the brush still grow, just like you. They refuse to die, just like you. Everything is overgrown with trees, and untaimed growth but it is quiet here. Ghost's scans say there is no hostile life but stray coyotes for tens of miles.

You receive a transmission from Ikora.

"Asher Mir is here for you. At the tower."

You send Cayde home, you know he will shield you from Mir's anger. You will never go to Io again, and see its beauty, but you will never have to listen to Mir's rage either.

You set up camp in a corpse of trees. Maybe you will never go back to the Last City. Maybe you could build a home here.

Maybe you will rest until the next system threatening crisis arises, tend to it, and return here. Call this place home. It would be easy to build a simple cabin with solar power, and you could gather friends to construct the building with you. You know they would. Guardians are always desperate for something to occupy their minds. 


	2. A Wish

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "That is all you could ever wish for..."

Your Ghost nudges you with a shell point, snapping you awake from a dream. Out of habit you dont move, waiting to see if they tap you again. They do. You shift to look at them from where you lay on your shared bed, slow movements not waking your partner. Your Ghost knows this song and dance, and transmats an earpiece into your hands. They wait patiently for you to put it on. When you do they start to talk. Not aloud, obviously, but through the aforementioned device. A short explaination has you sighing. You're needed on Nessus. Cayde has some sort of mission to run, and apparently the vanguard needs the best.

They always do nowadays.

You nod to your Ghost, and they transmat you from under the blankets. Once again, your partner will not wake this way. Mir is a heavy sleeper. His ghost notices that you're leaving, however, and floats along after you and your Ghost out of the bedroom. Well. Its only sort of a bedroom. This is Mir's 'home,' a cave system on Io that he's set himself up in after some careful coaxing from you. He loves research above all else, and he's currently the foremost expert on the Vex, aside from Osiris. Which makes him the front runner by default, since Osiris never leaves the Forest. You can't blame him for wanting to stay, so you gathered some guardians and had them assist in making a home on Io. Its cozy with rugs and tapestries, cusions and couches. You are lothe to leave, but cannot refuse the call.

You leave a handwritten note for Mir, detailing the situation and giving your love. Writing by hand is akin to a warm embrace for Mir when you cannot be with him.

And then your armor is on and you're gone. Playing love songs on your helmet's sound system, already longing to be back in bed with Mir, even if you arent always pressed together as you wish you could be when you sleep with him.

You attend the mission assigned to you without complaint or hesitation.

And several hours later something curious happens. You're talking with Cayde over comns and you're inerrupted by your ghost. 

"Incoming friendly unit!"

Your startled voice rings over the coms, "What? Cayde is that you?"

A familiar voice answers. Mir! "No, its me. I came to help you with whatever blasted, idiotic task the vanguard assigned you."

"Oh hey, your beau is here." Cayde-6 sounds decently surprised.

You could almost laugh. "Oh Mir, its just a favor for Cayde."

"A favor? A favor that woke you up. Cayde-6 the NEXT time you wake _my lover_ at three in the morning, Earth time, I will _drown_ your circuits in radiolaria."

"OoooHhhh my bad buddy."

Mir is ranting along; "Do you know how hard it is to get them to sleep? Even sit down? You blasted idiots in that tower always need _something_ from my dearest. ASK SOMEONE ELSE FOR YOUR FAVORS."

"Ah, yes, about that." Cayde's voice trails for a moment, and you wonder why before...the comns click off.

Your voice is a tone of awe, "You...scared him off."

Mir snorts, "Of course I did, now come home."

You hold hands on your way back to the LZ. You find out he woke up not an hour after you did, but refrained from coming after you for a while in case it was just a short mission. When you didnt return after some hours he came to find you, and hijacked his way into Cayde's com channel. 

Mir is still grumbly about having you stolen away so early in the morning, but not upset at you. He presses his arm against yours as you walk, and you know he wants nothing more than to settle down in your lap and organize research data. He's cute like that.

He does just that when you return to Io together. You sit in a comfy armchair, and Mir settles on top of you with a holopad. Music plays and you watch idly while he explains what he's learned recently, what frustrates him, a new breakthrough. Its good to know about what he does, and Mir organizes his thoughts better by talking, so it works out perfectly. Your arms settle around him, one hand resting on his hip and the other at his knees. You draw a blanket over your legs and his, eventually, when he's slowed down some. 

His forehead rests in the crook of your neck, but you know his thoughts still race. Your thumb from the hand that rests on his hip moves in idle back and forth motions over a patch of bare skin where his shirt has ridden up. The warmth is plesant. You draw the blanket up further.

Your love is close to you, he is alive, and he loves you as you adore him. That is all you could ever wish for.

**Author's Note:**

> Cross-posted on discount-romantic tumblr page.


End file.
